Dear Editor,
I refer to Mr Vishnu Bisram’s letter (SN May 11) titled ‘The Indian and African experience has been similar.” In it he states, “But one should not forget that Indians and Africans had a similar experience and a common history. Their recruitment, the journey and the conditions in the colonies bore many similarities to those experienced by our African brethren.” This statement is a total falsehood if not an absurdity. Details are not necessary for this response, but has he seen the configuration of the slave ships?
In our context ‘similar’ for most people means ‘the same,’ or at best, ‘alike’ though not ‘identical.’
I share and have publicly shared the statement in Mr Bisram’s first paragraph, to wit, about “Indians’ remarkable contribution.” Indeed I go further, Indians have and continue to make monumental contributions to Guyana. However, I take issue, or rather great umbrage when he compares the inhumane sufferings of slavery with indentureship. Yes, the Indians on the estates were put through all sorts of ill treatment, but nothing near to what the African endured for several centuries of slavery.
On this issue I expect the PPP, PNC, and AFC. ACDA, ClOG, The Descendants of Manumitted Africans Reparation Trust, The Kingdom of Descendants of Africans, the Islamic groups, the Indian Arrival Committee, and the History Department of the University of Guyana, not to be silent on Bisram’s distortion of our history.
Very briefly, by the time of Emancipation in l838 there had been acts of Parliament which ordered the plantation masters to ease the mistreatment and humiliation of slaves. Each slave rebellion at the cost of many lives helped create conditions for improvement. The work of Wilberforce, Foxwell Buxton, and Rev John Smith are all well known. To talk about this crusade for emancipation and amelioration could take volumes.
The Indians therefore came at a time when the conscience of Europe and the British had already been made to regard slaves and labourers as human beings, even though the planters and overseers resisted change and believed that the African slaves were no more than beasts of burden. The Indians did not have their heads cut off and placed on poles around what is now the Independence Park (Parade Ground) to remind their kith and kin to be of good behaviour.
The Indians did not share the horror of being burnt to death at the stake, or broken on the rack for disobedience. There is no Indian parallel for Quamina, etc. Indians did not have some Amerindian groups being used to hunt them down when they ran away from the plantations. The imperial masters paid these Amerindian ‘hunters’ for each severed hand of an African brought in. Their experiences are long and painful and will be dealt with at another time.
We have thousands of African martyrs, and fewer Indian martyrs.
The role of the British missionaries to make the slaves and ex-slaves obedient is well-known, but these are rather complex matters.
I end with one small caveat as Mr Bisram pursues the rewriting of our history: he should please also explain why Indians proudly carry the names of their noble Indian ancestors, while I and those who emerged from the slave brutality are burdened with the labels and names of the slave masters – John, James, etc. You see the Africans were cruelly severed from their roots, and this is a serious matter. We are not certain from which part of Africa we were uprooted. The Indians were not in similar fashion severed, and had the choice to return to India or stay in British Guiana. I ask, therefore, where is the similarity between slavery and indentureship? There is none. Let us tell our own stories accurately, then together work very hard to make a reality of our motto: One people, One Nation, and One Destiny.
Yours faithfully,
Hamilton Green, JP
